Kenya’s phenomenal Eliud Kipchoge stormed to a runaway marathon win and Brazil celebrated volleyball gold as the chaotic but compelling Rio Olympics prepared for the final curtain on Sunday.
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Kipchoge won bronze and silver in the men’s 5,000 metres at the 2004 and 2008 Games respectively, but was not to be denied in the rain in Rio on Sunday.
“This experience has been the dream of a lifetime for me”, said US gymnast and closing ceremony flagbearer Simone Biles, who won five medals, four of them gold, in her first Olympics.
Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge won gold in 2:08:44 and Ethiopia’s Feyisa Lilesa won silver in 2:09:54. When he crossed the finish line first in the 5,000 on Saturday night, he became just the second runner to win the 5,000 and 10,000 in back-to-back Olympics.
Sunday was Rupp’s second event at these Games. The Kenyan upped the pace around the 30km mark, starting with a group of a dozen runners about him who slowly dropped away one by one until he ran the final kilometres alone. Kipchoge won easily and looked as if he had more left in the tank, which wasn’t surprising considering he has a PR of 2:03:05 from the London Marathon earlier this year.
Lilesa made a gesture in crossing the line that he later said was a protest against the arrest of Ethiopian anti-government protesters, who have come out against killing of the Oromo people, adding his life may now be in danger for the very-public sign of dissent.
“It was a championship and it was a bit slow so I chose to take over”, said a thrilled Kipchoge after the race.
It was nearly as if the runners were channeling Frank Shorter, who won the 1972 Olympic marathon and then finished second in Montreal four years later.
Such sentiments were shared by a downcast Japan coach Takeshi So, who said the Japanese squad is “lacking in every department”, flagging a potential rethink of marathon runner development in the country.
Ethiopia’s Feyisa Lilesa claimed the silver medal and American Galen Rupp took the bronze on a soggy course.
For more from the final day of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, visit our Olympic section. “In the end, as long as you end up getting a bronze in one, you get a medal, then I know I didn’t screw it up completely”.
“No, I can not say I am a superhero”. Stephen Kiptrotich of Uganda is looking to defend the gold medal he won in the 2012 London Games. That capped an Olympics in which the USA dominated the medal tables, both the gold (46) and overall totals (121).
But he will also be known for working with his coach, Bob Larsen, former Olympian Deena Kastor – who won a marathon bronze in Athens – and others to rebuild distance running back home. “It got rough at 30K but I was able to keep the rhythm going and not falter too much”.
“I guess I will be known for an epic finish there”, Keflezighi said. “I feel like I let people down”. As a matter of fact they scooped no fewer than 118 medals in the just-concluded Rio Olympics; compared to Kenya’s 13. “It’s something different. I’ve won world medals”.
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“I was just focusing on getting to the finish line”, Rupp said.
